Hydroponic and Organic Gardening

To understand the mechanics of nutrient lockout and how to prevent it from occurring, you must first have a basic understanding of how plants take in nutrients. (WARNING! Science content!) Most of a plants sustenance is taken in through the roots through a process called osmosis. Osmosis is the physical process by which a solution of low concentration translocates through a semi-permeable membrane to a solution of higher concentration on the other side of the membrane. This process is what allows roots to absorb water from the surrounding soil. As osmosis occurs, energy is released and used to fuel plant growth. Now enter nutrient lockout.

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Because it always provides “something to do,” gardening can be a year-round activity. And if you can’t think of any gardening tasks for the winter months, here are some tips to get you going.

Some assume that just because the weather is cold the ground must be frozen. “But the ground takes longer to cool off than the air does,” says Sharon Yiesla, Unit Educator, University of Illinois Extension. “As long as the ground isn’t frozen and can accept water, you should water at least your evergreens. Most of the other plants are fairly dormant by winter and not using much water. Evergreens, on the other hand, keep their needles all winter and can lose water through those needles.

“Keeping water supplied to the evergreen’s roots on a weekly basis as long as possible into the fall and winter season will help reduce stress.”

Winter means the threat of snow and ice damage to trees and shrubs is always a possibility. “When snow piles up on evergreens, try to gently brush it off,” Yiesla said. “Don’t shake the branches as this may cause them to break. If the snow is frozen on the branch and will not brush off easily, it’s best to let it melt naturally to avoid damage to the tree or the shrub.

“If tree limbs break due to the weight of ice or snow, it’s advisable to have the broken limbs removed as soon as the weather permits. Hanging branches can be a danger to passing pedestrians. Also, the tree will be able to heal the wound better in spring, if the wound has clean edges instead of ragged tears.”

A sudden warm spell in mid-winter is a good time to check for problems. If roses are covered with cones, it may be time to ventilate the cones to prevent heat from building up inside. The same should be done with cold frames. “If it is a warm, sunny day, the temperatures may be rising in the cold frame more than you expect,” Yiesla noted. “Remember to close vents as the temperatures drop again at night.”

Indoors, it is important to keep holiday plants fresh and blooming. Most of the blooming holiday plants prefer to be in a cool room. This keeps the plant in flower longer. Most holiday plants also need a bright room (some do well with direct sun, others do not). Keep these plants out of drafts to keep them in good health.

“If you order seeds from catalogs, get your order in by the end of January,” Yiesla recommended. “Early orders help ensure that you get the seeds you want and that you have them in time to start them indoors if you want.” It is very common to find insects meandering around the house in winter, she added.

“All of these critters come into the house looking for a place to rest for the winter. Common nuisance pests are box elder bugs, house flies, squash bugs, and the multi-colored Asian ladybeetles”. As you encounter these insects, just vacuum them up. Avoid smashing them as some leave stains or odors when smashed.

It is important not to store firewood in the house. Insects can come in with firewood. “Leave the wood outside until you are ready to build a fire,” Yiesla said. “Firewood should never be treated with insecticides, and insecticides are often not needed for most insect home invaders.”

Sharon Yiesla is a Unit Educator at the Horticultural Department of the University of Illinois Extension. For more information about gardening, visit the University of Illinois Extension website at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state/index.html.

Macronutrients
Macronutrients are the core elements that are most needed by plants. The three major macronutrients are: Nitrogen “N”, Phosphorus “P”, and Potassium “K”. If you have ever purchased any type of fertilizer, then you will recognize these letters. All fertilizers consist of these elements in varying quantities. This is also referred to as the N-P-K ratio of the fertilizer and can be found on the side of the bag (20-20-20). Based on these three numbers you can choose a fertilizer that meets the needs of your plants during the different stages of growth. Most vegetables thrive primarily on “N” and “P” during the vegetative stage and in their flowering-stage, “P” and “K”.

Micronutrients
In addition to macronutrients, plants also require trace-elements for optimum growth. These trace-elements or micronutrients include:

• Calcium – Ca
• Magnesium – Mg
• Sulfur -S
• Manganese – Mn
• Boron – B
• Zinc – Zn
• Copper – Cu

They are present in many fertilizers, but in much less quantities than macronutrients.

Managing living systems usually goes better when our methods imitate
nature’s. Here’s an example of what happens when we don’t.

People who keep tropical fish in home aquariums are informed that to
avoid numerous fish diseases they must maintain sterile conditions.
Whenever the fish become ill or begin dying, the hobbyist is advised
to put antibiotics or mild antiseptics into the tank, killing off
most forms of microlife. But nature is not sterile. Nature is
healthy.

Like many an apartment dweller, in my twenties I raised tropical
fish and grew house plants just to have some life around. The plants
did fine; I guess I’ve always had a green thumb. But growing tired
of dying fish and bacterial blooms clouding the water, I reasoned
that none of the fish I had seen in nature were diseased and their
water was usually quite clear. Perhaps the problem was that my
aquarium had an overly simplified ecology and my fish were being fed
processed, dead food when in nature the ecology was highly complex
and the fish were eating living things. So I bravely attempted the
most radical thing I could think of; I went to the country, found a
small pond and from it brought home a quart of bottom muck and pond
water that I dumped into my own aquarium. Instead of introducing
countless diseases and wiping out my fish, I actually had introduced
countless living things that began multiplying rapidly. The water
soon became crystal clear. Soon the fish were refusing to eat the
scientifically formulated food flakes I was supplying. The profuse
variety of little critters now living in the tank’s gravel ate it
instead. The fish ate the critters and became perfectly healthy.

When the snails I had introduced with the pond mud became so
numerous that they covered the glass and began to obscure my view,
I’d crush a bunch of them against the wall of the aquarium and the
fish would gorge on fresh snail meat. The angelfish and guppies
especially began to look forward to my snail massacres and would
cluster around my hand when I put it into the tank. On a diet of
living things in a natural ecology even very difficult species began
breeding.

Organic and biological farmers consider modern “scientific” farming
practices to be a similar situation. Instead of imitating nature’s
complex stability, industrial farmers use force, attempting to bend
an unnaturally simplified ecosystem to their will. As a result, most
agricultural districts are losing soil at a non-sustainable rate and
produce food of lowered nutritional content, resulting in decreasing
health for all the life forms eating the production of our farms.
Including us.